Forced-choice Memory Test Research Articles

Effects of Language Variety and Word Availability in Commercial Advertisements on Listener’s Lexical Recall

Commercial advertisements in Arabic-speaking regions tend to alternate between dialectal Arabic and Modern Standard Arabic, but it is not yet clear whether language variety has any impact on listener’s lexical recall. Insight into this issue should help enterprises design their commercial advertisements in a linguistically intelligent manner. This study addresses two questions: 1) How does language variety (dialectal vs. standard) affect listener’s lexical recall in commercial advertisements? 2) Do listeners recall words that have appeared in dialectal advertisements better than those that did not appear in advertisements using the same variety? Fifteen Saudi participants responded to a forced-choice memory test with 24 yes-no questions (3 per advertisement) asking participants to report whether they heard a specific key word in eight advertisements that utilized different language varieties. The findings show that Arabic speakers tend to perceive both Modern Standard Arabic and dialectal Arabic in commercial advertisements similarly, but tend to recall the presence of a key word in an advertisement better than its absence. Future research may increase the sample size and examine more Arabic varieties.

Concurrent target detection is associated with better memory for object exemplars

Under continuous dual-task conditions, participants show better memory for background information appearing at the same time as a response target in a concurrent task than for information appearing with a nontarget (the attentional boost effect, or ABE). While this effect has been demonstrated across a wide range of stimuli, few studies have examined the perceptual specificity of the memory difference. Here, we explored whether the ABE affects general category memory or perceptually specific exemplar memory. In an encoding phase, participants memorized images of objects presented in a continuous stream. At the same time, they pressed the space bar when a square appearing in the center of each image appeared in a target color, ignoring distractor-colored squares. The following four-alternative forced-choice memory test included the previously seen image, a perceptually distinct exemplar from the same category as the previously seen image, and two images from a new category. Regardless of whether images appeared during encoding three times (Experiment 1) or once (Experiment 2), participants recognized the correct exemplar more often during testing for images that had appeared with a target in encoding than for images that had appeared with a distractor. The difference in exemplar memory was not associated with a difference in false memories for within-category foils. This suggests that the ABE reflects modulation of perceptually detailed exemplar memory, which may be related to facilitation of pattern separation by detection-induced changes in cortical-hippocampal connectivity.

Oculomotor capture reveals trial-by-trial neural correlates of attentional guidance by contents of visual working memory

Evidence from attentional and oculomotor capture, contingent capture, and other paradigms suggests that mechanisms supporting human visual working memory (VWM) and visual attention are intertwined. Features held in VWM bias guidance toward matching items even when those features are task irrelevant. However, the neural basis of this interaction is underspecified. Prior examinations using fMRI have primarily relied on coarse comparisons across experimental conditions that produce varying amounts of capture. To examine the neural dynamics of attentional capture on a trial-by-trial basis, we applied an oculomotor paradigm that produced discrete measures of capture. On each trial, subjects were shown a memory item, followed by a blank retention interval, then a saccade target that appeared to the left or right. On some trials, an irrelevant distractor appeared above or below fixation. Once the saccade target was fixated, subjects completed a forced-choice memory test. Critically, either the target or distractor could match the feature held in VWM. Although task irrelevant, this manipulation produced differences in behavior: participants were more likely to saccade first to an irrelevant VWM-matching distractor compared with a non-matching distractor – providing a discrete measure of capture. We replicated this finding while recording eye movements and scanning participants' brains using fMRI. To examine the neural basis of oculomotor capture, we separately modeled the retention interval for capture and non-capture trials within the distractor-match condition. We found that frontal activity, including anterior cingulate cortex and superior frontal gyrus regions, differentially predicted subsequent oculomotor capture by a memory-matching distractor. Other regions previously implicated as involved in attentional capture by VWM-matching items showed no differential activity across capture and non-capture trials, even at a liberal threshold. Our findings demonstrate the power of trial-by-trial analyses of oculomotor capture as a means to examine the underlying relationship between VWM and attentional guidance systems.

Nosewitness Identification: Effects of Lineup Size and Retention Interval.

Although canine identification of body odor (BO) has been widely used as forensic evidence, the concept of nosewitness identification by human observers was only recently put to the test. The results indicated that BOs associated with male characters in authentic crime videos could later be identified in BO lineup tests well above chance. To further evaluate nosewitness memory, we assessed the effects of lineup size (Experiment 1) and retention interval (Experiment 2), using a forced-choice memory test. The results showed that nosewitness identification works for all lineup sizes (3, 5, and 8 BOs), but that larger lineups compromise identification performance in similarity to observations from eye- and earwitness studies. Also in line with previous eye- and earwitness studies, but in disagreement with some studies on odor memory, Experiment 2 showed significant forgetting between shorter retention intervals (15 min) and longer retention intervals (1-week) using lineups of five BOs. Altogether this study shows that identification of BO in a forensic setting is possible and has limits and characteristics in line with witness identification through other sensory modalities.

Reduced prefrontal and temporal processing and recall of high “sensation value” ads

Public service announcements (PSAs) are non-commercial broadcast ads that are an important part of televised public health campaigns. “Message sensation value” (MSV), a measure of sensory intensity of audio, visual, and content features of an ad, is an important factor in PSA impact. Some communication theories propose that higher message sensation value brings increased attention and cognitive processing, leading to higher ad impact. Others argue that the attention-intensive format could compete with ad's message for cognitive resources and result in reduced processing of PSA content and reduced overall effectiveness. Brain imaging during PSA viewing provides a quantitative surrogate measure of PSA impact and addresses questions of PSA evaluation and design not accessible with traditional subjective and epidemiological methods. We used Blood Oxygenation Level Dependent (BOLD) functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) and recognition memory measures to compare high and low MSV anti-tobacco PSAs and neutral videos. In a short-delay, forced-choice memory test, frames extracted from PSAs were recognized more accurately than frames extracted from the NV. Frames from the low MSV PSAs were better recognized than frames from the high MSV PSAs. The accuracy of recognition of PSA frames was positively correlated with the prefrontal and temporal, and negatively correlated with the occipital cortex activation. The low MSV PSAs were associated with greater prefrontal and temporal activation, than the high MSV PSAs. The high MSV PSAs produced greater activation primarily in the occipital cortex. These findings support the “dual processing” and “limited capacity” theories of communication that postulate a competition between ad's content and format for the viewers' cognitive resources and suggest that the “attention-grabbing” high MSV format could impede the learning and retention of an ad. These findings demonstrate the potential of using neuroimaging in the design and evaluation of mass media public health communications.

Victoria Symptom Validity Test

Abstract This study compared the performances of non-compensation-seeking (NCS; n= 151) and compensation-seeking (CS; n= 21) patients on the Victoria Symptom Validity Test (VSVT; Slick, Hopp, Strauss, & Thompson, 1997), a test designed to detect feigned or exaggerated memory impairment. Despite showing comparable performances on measures of depression, intellectual, and memory ability, the CS group obtained significantly lower scores on the VSVT as compared to the NCS group. The distribution of scores for each group is provided using a three-level classification system (Valid, Questionable, or Invalid). A significant association was found between CS group membership and Questionable/Invalid performance on the VSVT. Two case examples are provided to illustrate the utility of this forced-choice memory test. These results indicate that the VSVT is an efficient, objective measure that provides quantitative data that appears to hold considerable promise in evaluating symptom validity.

New strings for Old: The Role of Similarity Processing in an Incidental Learning Task

This paper reports three experiments that examine the role of similarity processing in McGeorge and Burton's (1990) incidental learning task. In the experiments subjects performed a distractor task involving four-digit number strings, all of which conformed to a simple hidden rule. They were then given a forced-choice memory test in which they were presented with pairs of strings and were led to believe that one string of each pair had appeared in the prior learning phase. Although this was not the case, one string of each pair did conform to the hidden rule. Experiment 1 showed that, as in the McGeorge and Burton study, subjects were significantly more likely to select test strings that conformed to the hidden rule. However, additional analyses suggested that rather than having implicitly abstracted the rule, subjects may have been selecting strings that were in some way similar to those seen during the learning phase. Experiments 2 and 3 were designed to try to separate out effects due to similarity from those due to implicit rule abstraction. It was found that the results were more consistent with a similarity-based model than implicit rule abstraction per se.

Detecting dissimulation: profiles of simulated malingerers, traumatic brain-injury patients, and normal controls on a revised version of Hiscock and Hiscock's Forced-Choice Memory Test.

A computer-administered memory test was given to normal subjects instructed to feign brain damage, normal controls, and traumatic brain-injured (TBI) patients with complaints of memory dysfunction. The test, a revised version of an instrument developed by Hiscock and Hiscock (1989) employed forced, two-choice recognition of previously presented five-digit numbers. Two levels of item difficulty and three retention intervals were used. Control and TBI subjects performed at near ceiling level on easy items and items with short retention intervals. Feigning subjects performed worse than TBI and control subjects at all levels of item difficulty and all retention intervals. Subjects groups were maximally distinguishable from one another by performance on difficult items and items with the longest retention interval. All TBI patients performed at or above chance level. Only 15% of the feigning subjects performed below chance level on any section of the test. Jack-knifed discriminant function analysis correctly classified 83% of all subjects into their respective groups. Although evaluation of patient performance relative to chance probability is useful for indicating the presence of extremely exaggerated memory deficits, criteria derived from sample distributions of group scores were superior for evaluation of motivation in less obvious cases. The Victoria Revision may be useful for detecting true memory deficit as well as dissimulation.

Refining the forced-choice method for the detection of malingering

For seven years following head trauma, a 45-year-old restaurant owner had claimed that he was unable to work because of impaired memory. A specially designed forced-choice memory test yielded performance significantly below the chance level and thus indicated malingering. This case illustrates some means of increasing the utility of forced-choice malingering tests.